You can exercise – even while in bed – to help maintain circulation in your legs and prevent DVTs. You can rotate your ankles or pump your feet up and down to encourage blood flow. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids while you're on bed rest. This will help prevent thickening of your blood.
Bed rest creates physical risks as well. The limited physical activity with bed rest can lead to muscle atrophy, bone loss, weight fluctuations, and blood clots or DVT (deep vein thrombosis).
While sitting, flex your calves and ankles at frequent intervals. If you're traveling a long distance by car, it's a good idea to stop every 60 to 90 minutes and take a short walk. This will stimulate your leg muscles and get your blood flowing, which in turn lowers the risk of blood pooling and clotting.
Move your legs.
If you are bedridden and can't take frequent walks (such as during a hospital stay or during the early stages of recovery), contracting your leg muscles will help prevent blood from pooling and clotting, which is important. Even small movements can make a huge difference.
However, blood clots called deep vein thrombosis, or DVTs, can form when people are bedridden, which reduces blood flow to the legs, Patterson said. "When you're not moving around, you don't have as much circulation in your lower extremities, and the blood sits around in your legs longer than usual," Patterson said.
One of the main causes of DVT is immobility. This is because the blood circulating through the leg veins relies on leg muscle contraction to propel it up the leg. If a person isn't moving their legs and contracting their muscles, their blood flow becomes sluggish and this can result in blood clots forming.
For instance, moving your legs and flexing your feet can improve blood flow in your calves. These lower leg muscles help pump blood from the legs to the heart, avoiding stagnated blood in the veins.
Respiratory System
Some of these complications of immobility can be prevented with respiratory hygiene measures such as deep breathing, coughing, postural drainage, percussion and vibration.
Immobility. Immobility increases the risk of thrombosis, presumably due to stasis of blood flow in the venous system.
Elevating your legs when possible and during the night can be very effective. Raise the bottom of your bed 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) with blocks or books. Physical activity. Moving as soon as possible after surgery can help prevent pulmonary embolism and hasten recovery overall.
Prolonged Immobility
Sitting or lying down for long periods—due to prolonged bed rest after illness or a long airplane flight, for example—can cause blood to pool in the legs, leading to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and, worst-case scenario, pulmonary embolism if the clot travels to the lungs.
throbbing or cramping pain, swelling, redness and warmth in a leg or arm. sudden breathlessness, sharp chest pain (may be worse when you breathe in) and a cough or coughing up blood.
Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices are inflatable sleeves that prevent blood clots. You wear them on your calves (lower legs) to help your blood circulate. A plastic sleeve slides over and past each foot. Then, it goes around each calf and plugs into a small machine that makes it inflate.
Circulation and respiratory complications (like pneumonia) often contribute to a steady decline. When this occurs, the bedridden life expectancy can be as short as a few days or as long as a week or two, depending upon whether the person is still receiving nourishment and liquids.
Sitting or lying down for too long increases your risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Too much sitting can also be bad for your mental health. Being active is not as hard as you think. There are lots of simple ways to include some physical activity in your day.
For example, if a person splits with their partner and is overwrought with sadness they may not want to leave their bed for days. They could be called bedbound. But someone who is bedridden can't get out of bed dues to illness or weakness.
Prolonged immobility: The contraction of the calf muscle in the leg helps to keep blood circulating. When the leg remains still for long periods of time, the calf muscles aren't contracting to help blood circulate and a blood clot can form.
You can get deep-vein clots at any age, but it usually affects people who are older than 40. After 40, the risk for DVT and PE may double with each passing decade.
Historically, three common factors predispose to thrombosis: 1) damage to the endothelial lining of the vessel wall; 2) a hypercoagulable state, and 3) arterial or venous blood stasis.
Deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common complication for clients experiencing immobility. When blood is not moving much due to client inactivity, it can coagulate (i.e, form a clot).
Immobile Patient is Susceptible to Muscle Atrophy
When an individual does not move for a long period of time, not only do they lose muscle strength and tone, they also develop a stiffening of their muscles. Atrophy and contracture both occur often in those who are immobile for an extended period of time.
To describe the association between major complications of immobility (pressure ulcer, pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis and urinary tract infection) during hospitalization and the patients' health-related quality of life after discharge.
Take steps to prevent blood clots. Stand up or walk occasionally. Select an aisle seat when possible so you can walk around every 2-3 hours.
Anticoagulation Medications or Blood Thinners
The most commonly prescribed blood thinners are unfractionated heparin, low molecular weight heparin, warfarin, and direct oral anticoagulants.